Coin-controlled vending-machine.



G. W. FINNEY.

GOIN CONTROLLED YENDING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR. z3. 190s.

912,455. Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

` 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

G. W. FINNEY.

GOIN CONTROLLED VBNDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2s, 1908.

Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

atloznu UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GERALD W. FINNEY, oF JACKSON,` OHIO.

C OIN -CON TROLLED VENDING-MACHINE Specic'ation of Letters Patent.

Application led March 23, 1908.

PatentedIFeb. 16, 1909. Serial N0. 422,670.-

To all whom it mayI co/neem:

Be it known that I, GERALD -W. l `1 NNEY, a citizenof the United States, resnling at J aclfson, in the county of Jackson and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usetain improvements in details of construction I and arrangement Of parts which will be morefv fully pointed out hereinafter. These objects l accomplish in the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:`

l igure .l is a central vertical section of the f exterior casmg of my dev1ce,;show1ng thel case containing and discharging means `in elevation with port1ons of parts thereof broken' away for the salie of clearness 1n illustration, ig. 2 'is a sectional ,-viewon liniel of ngi, ligz 1s a sectional-viewcn line fy-fg/ of l` 1g. l, lig. 4 1s a detail v1ew1n= perspective of the com receiving and 'dischargmg mechanism, lig. 5 is anenlargedtransverse section of the coin'receiving ele'- ments which are illustratedin E ig. 4, r ig. 6

is an enlarged longitudinal section of a spring actuated pin and its case,'which I employ 1nV the manner hereinafterdescribed, and, Fig. 7 ls a view in elevation of the lower tion of one of the package containing and ,w discnargmg tubes.

Similar numerals refer to similar `parts lthroughout the several views l represents the external casing or housing of my.device, which may be of suitableoutline.' Within thiscasing, I support a framework which comprises u per and lower or top and bottom parallel- 3, these frame lates being connected by vertically disposed) rods 4. Both the upper and lower frame plates have formed therein comparatively large circular indicated respectively 'at 5 and 6.` Passing through the' plate-'openings 5 andf are the upper and lower ends of a plurality of -verl tically arranged'tubes'-7, the upper ends of said tubes Aregistering rand' communicating with epeningsSa of a circular '-.plate 8 with which is pivoted 'said' nger andthe other to a end Ipor' 'tion occurring, as shown, below the height of thel tubes:

rame plates 2 and openings which are of theopening 20a:

which said tubes are connected. As shown in they drawing, the openings 8a are arranged in a circle adjacent-to the outer surface or peripheryv of thefplate 8, while the central portion of the plate S is rigidly connectedy with a vertical shaft 9, the upper end of by means of pins frame plate 2, p above'the plate. lhe lower end of the shaft' 9 is pivot/edl as indicated more clearly in hig. 3 of thedrawing, in the central portion of -a spider frame 12,' which is supported in the depressed or recessed under-surface of the late 3.

i ove thespider plate 10, the shaft 9 carina spider frame l0 jwhiclr or bolts: 11 rising from the 1 is supported horizontally ries a reel-13, with which Vis connected-andupon which is adapted to be-Wound, a iiexible cord, wire or-cable 14,l the latter running, as shown, outwardifrorn the reel-and over a pulley 15 which is pivotally supported from a racket of the spider `,frame 10. From this pulley wheel, the cord or wire passes downward througlianopening 2a in one corner ofthe plate 2 and carriesupon its end a weight l 16. Pivotally connected =With the plate 8 at points between the openings 8a, are outgers'17, each ofthese'fingers extending be'- tween two short verticalms 18 on the upper side of th=plate=8 and eing' normally held in'contact with one ofsaidpins by a coiled sprin 19,'1`oneend of which is connected to projection of the plate "8.'1

Asc shown'in the drawing, I form each of the tubes 7 in two sections', the said sections beingseparate'd byl a comparatively slight space such as is indicated-'at' a, said separa-I the center of The lower endof each of the lower tube sections is connected `and communicates with 'anopening vin a bottom ring plate 20, which corresponds in general formwith the upper plate 8. These 'openings which are indicatedat 20a and are more clearly seen in Fig. '3 ofthe drawing,iare arranged in acircle in the outer `portion of the plate 20 and are'fnormally substantially closed by valve plates v21, each of which iscarried on one .arm of'a bell crank lever 22, said lever being pivotedfatits anglelto the plate' 20 at one side The outer arm of each of the bell cranks, has its-termination beyond the periphery ol" he plate 20, and said valve wardly projecting or radially extending 'iinplate is normally held in the closed position shown in Fig. 3 through the medium'of a spring 23 which connects the bell crank pin with said plate 20. Leading from a point beneath the plate 20 and supported by the frame 3, is the upper end of an outwardly inclined delivery chute or package conductor 24, the outer end of which passes through the casing 1 and terminates in a cup-like extension 24Et on the outer side of said casing.

Rising from, the bottom frame plate 3 at one side of the circular group of tubes 7 `is a fixedstandard 25, to the upper portion of which is secured an insulating block of fiber or other suitable material 26.- To this block 26 is hinged at 26a one end of a second insulating'block 27 and to the u per portions of the inner faces of these ins ating blocks are secured the upper end portion of electric contact strips 28, the lower and free ends of which are inclined toward each other as shown more clearly in Fig. 5 of the drawing:

core projections.

' of the armature bar.

32 is an armature bar, one end of which is pivoted to a vertical pin 33 which rises from the frame plate 2 at one side of the magnet bodies 30. Thisarmature bar which extends in front of the core projections 31 of the magnets is extended beyond the line of said magnets and terminates in a bent portion which inclines in the direction of the plate 8 and which normally lies in the path ofthe outwardly projecting end portions of thespring actuated fingers 17. The armature bar is normally retained in the path of the projecting gers 17 b means of a s ring 34 which as indicated in ig. 1 of the rawing, is coiled about the armature bar pin 33,said spring having one of its ends connected with said pin and the remainingend engaging said bar. vAt a point on the outer side of the bent extension of the armature bar, I provide a fixed case 35, through which passes loosel a shaft 36 (see Figs. 2 and 6). rlhis sha t carries on the inner side of the case a plate 37 between which and the opposite end of the `case is provided a coiled spring 38, the latter thus serving to normally press one end of the shaft 36 to its outward limit in the direction The opposite poles of the magnets 30 are connected respectively with the contact strips 28 through the medium of wires which may be run within the casing 1 in any suitable manner. For the sake of illustration we have shown these wires in a diagrammatical manner as runningon the outer side of the case and the thereofrises a vertical r'od or standard 43 (see Figs. 1 and 4) andupon said standard isA pivotally 'mounted one end of a slightly curved arm 44, the latter being through the medium of a spring 45 pressed toward the tubes 7. This arm 44 is so located as to ex# tend. within the space 7 a between twol sec-v tions of a tube 7, in which position it exerts a pressure against Aone of the sacks of peanuts or other goods, which sacks are indicated at 45 and which are contained, as shown, within the tubes 7. y

" Assuming that the tubes arelled orpartially filled with packages or sacks of peanuts or other goodsto be vended and that'the lower sackv in each tube is bearing upon the valve plate 21 thereof, the operationof my device, is as follows: A coin such as is indicated at 46 in Fig. 5.of the drawing, having been dropped through the casing slot 41, is delivered through the chute 42 to the space between the insulating blocks 27 and between the lower portions of the contact strips 28. In this position the coin serves to produce a connection between the two strips which closes a circuit through the wires 39 Vand. 40, battery 40a and magnets 30. The

magnet cores being thus magnetized, it is obvious that the armature bar 32 will be drawn out of contact with one of the fingers 17 thereby permitting a rotary motion of the cage formed by the'tubes 7 and their top and bottom plates 8 and 20, this motionbeing induced by the tendenc of the weight 16 to move downward whic through its connection with the reel 13 imparts rotary motion to the shaft 9. This movement of the'tube' frame or cage results in the outer arm of one of the valve bell cranks 22 coming into contact with a pini47 which projects from the upper side of the lower frame plate 3, such contact resulting in the;valve 22 with which this bell crank isconnected, being swung outward a suflicient distance to permit the last sack in the tube thus opened, dropping downward into the chute 24 from which it is delivered to the cup` termination 42a on the outer side of the case. During this operation of discharging the package or sack, the y charge of the sack, permits the valve plate 21 to return to its closed position and the outiao ward movement which is imparted to the finger 29 of the block 27, which moyement is caused by the contact of one of the moving neath said block. This dropping of the coin breaks the circuit by separation'of the contact strips 28, resulting in the movement of the spring actuated armature bar 32 into position where it contacts with the next succeeding linger 17, thereby stopping the rotation of the tube frame. In order to insure this movement of the armature bar away from the cores and into the path of the fin- ,gers 17, I have provided the spring actuated pin 36, which said armature bar is pressed lnward by its movement toward the magnet cores.

In order to provide a means of ascertaining whether or not the weight 16 is at its bottom limit and an indication that the tubes have 'been emptied of` their contents, I provide a sight opening in the exterior casing 1- and onv the inner side of the casing is normally suspended by said sight opening, a plate 51, the latter being supported by a cord 52 which runs to the up er portion of the casing, thence across the casing over pulleys 53 thence downward to a point above the frame plate l3, at which point said cord is connected with a suitable trip plate 54, the latter being mounted to slide on one of the frame rods 4 and having a projecting portion 54a with which the when said tion.

It is obvious that the contact ofthe weight weight 16 is adapted to contact weight approaches its lowest posiwith said trip plate projection, Awill result in a pull upon the cord 52 which in turn will result in an upward pull on the plate 51,

p thereby uncovering the opening 50. If it is not desired to uncover obvious that the plate 51 length, may have its face said opening, it is being of the desired lettered or painted v .eHective mechanism is provided for automatically vending packages of peanuts or other goods'and that said device is so constructed as to insure its proper operation on the dropping of a coin through the coin slot.

While I have shown and described no special -means for retaining the peanuts or other goods in a heated condition, it is obvious that any well known heating means may be employed in the lower portion of the casin What claim, is:

In a package vending machine, the co1nbination with a rotatably mounted body comprising a frame work and a plurality of vertically arranged package receiving tubes, spring actuated members for closing the bottoms of said tubes, means normally tending to rotate the tube carrying frame, a discharge chute over which said tubes move, a friction member adapted to enter anopening in the sides of the tubes to frictionally engage one of the packages contained therein, while the lower-most package is being discharged, a plurality of spring actuated fingers mounted upon the tube carrying frame and projecting beyond the periphery thereof, stops for limiting the movement oi said fingers in both directions, an arm which normally lies within the path of movement of said fingers, and means for witlulrawingr said arm from the path ot movement of said fingers.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GERALD IN. FINNEY, Witnesses:

R. L. GRIMEs, L. SACHS. 

